Texts reveal behind-the-scenes moves of the Vatican’s ‘trial of the century’

Public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui walks past two Vatican Gendarmi as she leaves the Vatican during a pause of her trial, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File) -

Defence lawyers have uncovered 3,225 pages of WhatsApp messages, exchanged between two women from 2020 to 2024, offering a compelling, behind-the-scenes account of the Vatican's "trial of the century."

These conversations reveal a parallel narrative of one of the Holy See's most tumultuous periods, when Pope Francis authorised a trial of 10 people, including a cardinal, into alleged financial misconduct. Though initially considered tangential, the women were intimately aware of the investigation and in some ways involved.